USS Lexington II (SP-705)

USS Lexington II (SP-705), later USS SP-705, was an American patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1918.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Lexington.
History
United States
Name:
  • USS Lexington II (1917-1918)
  • USS SP-705 (1918)
Namesake:
  • Lexington II was her previous name retained
  • SP-705 was her section patrol number
Builder: New York Yacht, Launch & Engine Company, Morris Heights, the Bronx, New York
Completed: 1911
Acquired:
  • Chartered 13 July 1917
  • Delivered 22 July 1917
Commissioned: 23 July 1917
Decommissioned: 21 November 1918
Renamed: SP-705 in 1918
Fate: Returned to owner 23 November 1918
Notes: Operated as private motorboat Lexington II 1911-1917 and from 1918
General characteristics
Type: Patrol vessel
Tonnage: 21[1] or 27[2] Gross register tons
Length: 65 ft 4 in (19.91 m)
Beam: 11 ft 8 in (3.56 m)
Draft: 5 ft (1.5 m) aft
Speed: 13 knots
Complement: 10
Armament:

Lexington II was built as a private motorboat of the same name in 1911 by the New York Yacht, Launch & Engine Company at Morris Heights in the Bronx, New York. On 13 July 1917, the U.S. Navy chartered her from her owner, Dale B. Fitler of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. Delivered to the Navy on 22 July 1917, she was commissioned as USS Lexington II (SP-705) on 23 July 1917 at Camden, New Jersey, with her owner, Chief Boatswain's Mate Dale B. Fitler, USNRF, in command. She was enrolled in the Naval Coast Defense Reserve on 26 July 1917.

Assigned to the 4th Naval District and based at Philadelphia, Lexington II served on patrol duties for the rest of World War I. She guarded the submarine nets in the Delaware River and also conducted patrols around Philadelphia, into the lower reaches of the Delaware River to the Delaware Bay, and through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to the Chesapeake Bay. She was renamed USS SP-705 sometime in 1918.[3]

SP-705 was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 21 November 1918 and returned to Fitler on 23 November 1918.

Notes
  1. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/l6/lexington_ii.htm.
  2. SP-705 Lexington II at Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships -- Listed by Hull Number "SP" #s and "ID" #s -- World War I Era Patrol Vessels and other Acquired Ships and Craft numbered from SP-700 through SP-799.
  3. SP-705 Lexington II at Department of the Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships -- Listed by Hull Number "SP" #s and "ID" #s -- World War I Era Patrol Vessels and other Acquired Ships and Craft numbered from SP-700 through SP-799.

References
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